From Miss Velingrad to the most famous sports academy in the world and a practice with top athletes, elite army personnel and successful financiers – hers is arguably the fastest unfolding success story of a Bulgarian woman and her inspiring accomplishments in the Arab world.

In 2012, Boryana Razsolkova left the sports academy in Dubai, where she had been working as manager, with the idea of following a career in sports psychology. And as so often in life, as one door closed, another opened. She was offered the opportunity of a lifetime – she was invited to a job interview at one of the most prestigious youth sports academies in the world. Boryana Razsolkova was given the assignment of developing a curriculum in sports psychology and culture for adolescent athletes, and ultimately, earned a teaching position at the Aspire Academy in Qatar, in competition with another 58 applicants from different countries.

At age 16, Boryana was crowned the first Miss Velingrad, but she soon realized modelling was not her thing. So, she turned to a profession that was yet to gain in popularity as democratic changes were unfolding in Bulgaria.

“At the beginning of the 1990s psychology was not all that popular – as a major at university, or as a career choice,” Boryana Razsolkova says. “Nevertheless, I chose it over law because it is the study of the soul, and what I wanted was to gain an insight into the individual human world. At the time I had already started reading specialist books in English and in Russian and that was how my interest in this science of the future was born.”

A few years later, having earned her university degree, she was specializing sports psychology at the sports school in Plovdiv. What followed was a job at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, then she went abroad, to Dubai, where her husband already had a job as coach of the national athletics team, after that - a managerial position in a sports company there, and, of course, Aspire Academy.

“Coaches simply must work with sports psychologists, it is a cooperation that has shown it really pays off. We work with the athletes, but also with coaches. Regrettably, there are many athletes who have ruined their careers over friction with their trainers. So, the first thing we try to do is establish the best bond possible between athlete and coach. Of course, the focus is on the competitors – first they have to learn is discipline, so that then, with the help of an expert, they can develop their concentration, endurance, physical, as well as psychological qualities. They all go hand in hand.”

Her job at the Aspire Academy, where she worked up until 2014, brought her in contact with the brightest sporting stars in the world. But there are two who have a special place in her heart - former soccer star Raul Gonzalez, who also lectures at the academy and who introduced her to the team of Barcelona, and world tennis No. 1 Rafael Nadal whose discipline, modesty and commitment she greatly admires. Boryana Razsolkova is now living in Dubai again, where she teaches brain training – a new branch of knowledge for training the brain the way one trains the body.

“I got interested in brain training when I left the academy in Qatar,” Boryana Razsolkova goes on with her story. “Training the brain as well as the body helps athletes, but it is also applied in many other spheres. For example – my professional services have been sought by the army, by finance companies, all spheres where there is hyper concentration and stress. This new branch helps us evolve to a higher level, developing qualities like concentration, training the memory, multiple intellect, a swift reaction. As it turns out, they depend on individual traits, but they can also be acquired by training.”

During the summer, the first Miss Velingrad placed the crown on the head of the newest beauty queen in the town. Whether she too is fated to lead such a charmed life, only time will tell.

English version: Milena Daynova